■1%'  i 


B*l 


INTRODUCTION. 


“Ignota  natio”,  an  unknown  nation  we  right¬ 
fully  may  be  called  by  the  world.  The  knowledge 
which  the  aliens  have  concerning  the  Slavonians  is 
so  limited  that  it  may  be  compared  with  almost  no¬ 
thing.  The  nations  living  in  our  closest  neighbour¬ 
hood  do  not  know  us.  How  can  we  expect  to  be 
known  by  people  inhabiting  far  and  distant  countries? 
Many  dont  even  know  that  we  are  in  existence, 
that  we  are  a  living  nation,  residing  in  the  heart  of 
civilization,  in  a  country  well  known  and  cultivated, 
and  not  somewhere  in  the  deserts  of  the  darkest 
Africa,  where  a  civilized  person  only  after  untold 
hardships  and  endurance  can  work  his  way.  Our 
ancestors  dwelt  a  century  ago  on  the  same  soil, 
which  at  present  is  still  cultivated  by  their  unfor¬ 
tunate,  oppressed,  tormented  and  persecuted  descen¬ 
dants,  and  which  is  open  at  all  times  to  the  travel 
and  inspection  of  the  civilized  world. 

It  is  not  our  fault  that  we  are  a  “natio  ignota”; 
it  is  the  fault  of  the  pseudo  historians,  the  haters  of 
truth  who,  to  the  detriment  of  an  apparently  weaker 
^nation,  strive  to  elevate  others  and  to  wipe  us  out 
from  the  list  of  nations  and  to  deny  our  existence. 
Our  most  devout  and  sincere  desire  is  to  throw  a 
favourable  light  upon  our  nation,  so  that  those  who 


—  4 


are  not  aquainted  with  its  history,  and  have  heard 
little  or  nothing  about  ns,  may  aquire  some  know¬ 
ledge  of  our  race  and  be  better  able  to  pass  a  just 
verdict  upon  us.  We  do  not  intend  to  rouse  to 
anger,  to  degrade  or  to  defame  others,  in  order  to 
clear  our  nation,  nor  to  elevate  it  to  the  detriment 
of  our  neighbours.  We  desire  to  convey  only  a 
true  impression  concerning  the  Slavonic  nation  so 
that  the  prejudice  against  us  may  be  dissipated  and 
that  our  past  and  present  condition  be  judged  accor¬ 
ding  to  our  merits.  If  this  be  done,  our  aim  will 
be  reached  and  our  work  rewarded. 

PITTSBURGH,  Pa.,  September  2nd  1891. 


Some  call  us  “Hungarians”  others  “Hans”, 
still  others  name  ns  properly  ,, Slovak”  Slavonians, 
but  such  are  few  and  themselves  do  not  clearly 
understand  the  word.  They  use  the  name  simply 
from  habit.  Very  often  they  honor  with  that  name 
those  who  do  not  deserve  it.  Let  us  solve  the 
question  who  are  the  Slavonians?  The  term  ,, Hun¬ 
garian”  is  not  properly  applied  to  us  in  America. 
It  includes  all  the  nationalities  living  in  Hungary, 
but  Hungarians  are  not  all  Slavonians.  By  the 
term  Hungarian  the  citizenship  or  the  right  of 
citizenship  is  conveyed.  Every  one  who  was  born 
in  Hungary  may  he  belong  to  whatever  nationality, 
is  a  Hungarian,  exactly  as  an  American  citizen  is  an 
American.  But  this  does  not  indicate  his  rational¬ 
ity,  only  his  citizenship.  After  what  are  the  people 
called  in  common  life,  after  their  citizenship  or  after 
their  nationality  ?  We  believe  after  the  latter.  An 
American  when  asked  what  he  is,  ought  to  tell  his 
nationality  and  not  his  citizenship.  An  Irishman, 
German,  French,  Bohemian  if  inquired  from  what  he 
is,  will  logically  answer:  I  am  an  Irishman,  German, 
French,  Bohemian.  Only  those,  who  do  not  adhere 
to  their  mother  language,  who  do  not  esteem  their 
nationality,  will  call  themselves  incorrectly,  against 
all  uses  of  centuries  and  terminology  after  their 


—  6 


citizenship.  We  have  to  consider  the  American 
Nation  according  to  the  rules  of  logic  as  a  civic,  but 
not  as  a  phylological  whole.  After  all,  the  language 
is  that  which  mostly  characterizes  the  nation  and, 
to  the  European  mind,  is  its  most  important  and 
most  distinctive  feature. 

Hungary  is  a  polyglotical  state,  .  comprising 
several  nations  as:  Magyars,  Germans,  Slavonians, 
Eumuns,  Servians,  Croates,  Kussians  and  other  minor 
tribes.  Each  of  these  nations  are  separate  and  di¬ 
stinct  and  their  only  feature  in  common  is  that  the 
government  is  the  same.  The  name  of  “Hungarian” 
may  be  properly  applied  to  a  Slavonian  whenever 
we  speak  of  his  citizenship.  Coming  to  Amer¬ 
ica  the  Slavonians  abjured  all  fidelity  to  the  old 
citizenship  and  the  only  remnant  of  our  old  state 
remaining  was  our  language,  which  was  the  Slavo¬ 
nic,  purely  distinct  from  the  Magyar  language.  We 
sundered  all  ties  which  bound  us  and  swore  persis¬ 
tent  loyaty  to  the  “American  Eagle”  under  whose 
mighty  wings  we  fled  for  safety,  shelter  and  pro¬ 
tection.  Thus  we  have  voluntarily  given  up  the  name 
of  our  former  citizenship,  Hungarians,  and  have  no¬ 
thing  further  to  do  with  that  name.  Whoever,  there¬ 
fore,  calls  us  Hungarians  applies  a  misnomer.  Each 
and  every  faithful  Slavonian  protests  and  has  to 
protest  against  this  name,  which  is  not  distinctively 
his  own.  Moreover  we  neither  have  nor  had  anything 
in  common  with  the  Huns,  another  name  applied  to 
us,  excepting  that  our  ancestors  gained  several  vic¬ 
tories  over  their  hordes  in  the  early  continental 


7  — 


wars.  The  Huns  belong  to  the  mongolian  and  tarta¬ 
ric  race,  with  which  the  Slavonians  stand  in  no 
relationship  whatever.  Our  ancestors  the  Slavo¬ 
nians  dwelt  on  the  beautiful  and  rich  shores  of  the 
Danube,  the  present  soil  of  Hungary,  long  before 
the  migration  of  nations.  When  the  migration  com¬ 
menced  the  wild  and  barbaric  nation  of  Huns  inva¬ 
ded  Europe  under  the  leadership  of  their  comman¬ 
der  Attila,  called  the  “Scourge  of  God”  (Isten  ostora) 
and  of  whom  tradition  has  it,  that  where  his  horse 
once  stepped  grass  grew  no  more.  We  know  from 
history  what  devastation  was  effected  by  their  ap¬ 
pearance  in  the  whole  of  Europe.  The  relatives  of  this 
barbaric  nation  are  the  Magyars,  the  present  reigning 
nation  in  Hungary,  with  which  we  have  nothing  in 
common,  excepting  that  we  live  together  in  the 
same  country,  yet  maintain  our  distinctive  character- 
ristics  and  language.  The  Indian  is  no  relation  to 
the  other  residents  of  the  United  States.  Would 

you  not  deem  it  absurd  to  be  called  Indians  or  for 

%/ 

the  Indians  to  be  called  Yankees,  yet  in  persisting 
in  calling  us  Hungarians  you  fall  into'just  this  fault. 
To  the  Slavonian  the  word  Hun  calls  to  mind  those 
upon  whom  we  have  been  apt  to  look  as  our  infe¬ 
riors,  both  in  intelligence  and  industry  and  when  it 
is  wrongly  applied  to  us  we  feel  the  mistake  keenly. 

What  are  we  than?  We  are  Slavonians  or  as 
some  call  us  Slovak’s. 

The  Slavonians  belong  to  the  indogerman  race. 
They  are  a  branch  of  the  powerful  slavish  nationa- 
*  lity,  whose  number  exceeds  a  hundred  million  souls. 


—  8 


The  slavish  nations  are:  Russians,  Polanders,  Bohe¬ 
mians,  Slovaks,  Servians,  Croats,  Bulgarians  and 
Vends.  They  are  divided  into  two  groupes  viz:  the 
southern  and  eastern  Slavs.  The  first  compri¬ 
ses  the  Bulgarians,  Servians,  Croats  and  Vends;  the 
second,  the  Russians,  Polanders,  Bohemians  and  the 
Slavonians.  All  these  branches  formed  in  the  olden 
primeval  times  one  nation,  speaking  one  language 
and  had  the  same  habits  and  features.  Leaving 
their  original  home  and  herd  they  occupied  different 
countries  and  came  into  contact  with  other  national¬ 
ities.  Thus  their  language  was  subjected  to  changes 
and  modifications,  but  as  a  rule  their  mind,  intellect, 
and  disposition  remained  remarkably  similiar.  The 
same  is  visible  in  other  nationalities,  as  for  example 
the  Roman  and  German.  History  shows  that  from 
the  Latin  language  originated  the  Italian,  French, 
Spanish  and  others;  from  the  German  several  very 
different  dialects  and  the  English,  Swedish,  Danish 
and  other  languages. 

Considering  the  language  we  Slavonians  do  not 
differ  so  much  as  others  similarly  situated  as  for 
instance,  the  Germans;  a  Styrian  has  a  hard  task  to 
understand  a  high  German,  while  nearly  all  the 
Slavs  can  easily  understand  each  other.  But 
the  Germans  have  been  more  blessed  than  we,  by 
having  early  created  one  literary  language,  which  is 
used  all  over  the  world  and  to  which  fact  must  be 
attributed  the  solidity  of  the  great  German  nation; 
we  Slavs  on  the  other  hand  have  as  many  liter¬ 
atures  as  there  are  branches  of  our  nation. 


To  this  Slavish  Nation  we  belong.  Our  native 
brothers  are:  the  Russians,  Polanders,  Bohemians, 
Croates,  Servians,  Bulgarians  and  Vends.  Although 
we  are  divided  into  several  nations,  each  having  its 
own  literature  and  language,  each  its  great  men,  the 
true  Slavish  feeling  and  our  own  cultivation  unite  us 
into  one  generation,  one  race,  one  brotherhood. 


—  30 


OTTIR,  PAST. 

The  Slavonic  is  one  of  the  oldest  nationalities. 
“Since  immemorial  time,  yon  have  your  name”.  (Od 
.  nepamati  sveta  mas  ti  meno  tvoje,)  sings  the  poet 
about  our  nation.  And  this  is  unquestionable,  and  a 
historically  established  fact.  Where  the  first  cradle 
of  our  ancestors  stood  cannot  be  positively  fixed,  but 
it  is  certain,  that  several  centuries  before  Christ  our 
ancestors  inhabited  the  same  country  where  their 
descendants  at  present  toil  and  suffer  :  the  beauti¬ 
ful  and  romantic  lands  of  Hungary.  The  oldest  Greek 
and  Roman  historians  such  as  Herodot,  Tukydides 
Strabo,  Plinius  junior  and  senior,  Tacitus  and  others 
mention  the  Slavonic  nation  in  their  works  and  des¬ 
cribe  its  people  as  quiet,  temperate  and  peacable, 
who  occupied  themselves  with  farming,  cultivation 
of  the  soil,  trading  and  spreading  of  science  and  art. 
Antiquities,  the  names  of  environs,  landscapes,  hills, 
rivers,  streams  and  villages  show  that  they  are  of 
Slavonic  origin.  There  is  not  a  historian  who  denies 
that  the  first  inhabitants  of  Hungary  were  not  the 
Slavonians. 

Our  ancestors  were  not  a  warlike  nation.  They 
were  lovers  of  peace  and  maintained  their  livelihood  by 
agriculture.  Wars  and  combats,  as  we  find  them  by 
all  other  then  living  nations,  were  detestful  to  them. 
That  they  were  a  civilized  nation  is  shown  by  this 


—  11  — 


fact  alone,  that  they  did’nt  offer  to  their  Gods  human 
beings,  which  nearly  all  o'thers  did.  Innocent  offerings 
consisting  of  produce  of  the  soil  were  mostly  favored. 

Happy  and  contended  for  centuries  and  centu¬ 
ries  they  held  for  their  own  that  large  and  fertile 
tract  of  land  which  extends  from  the  well  known 
mountains  of  Karpath,  south  to  the  Adrian  Sea  and 

from  there  west  to  the  Black  Sea,  and  which  is  traver- 

• 

sed  by  such  mighty  rivers  and  streams  as  the  Danu¬ 
be,  Tisa,  Sava,  Drava,  Morava,  Yah,  Nitra  and  Hron. 
They  reigned  over  all  this  immense  country,  ruled 
by  a  duke  or  king  whose  first  capitol  was  at  Belo- 
hrad.  Later  when  the  Romans  extended  their  power 
over  Pannonia  or  the  present  country  on  the  western 
shores  of  the  Danube,  the  capitol  was  transferred  to 
the  town  named  Nitra,  which  remained  thereafter 
the  seat  of  Slavonic  regents. 

The  town  Nitra,  of  pure  Slavonic  origin,  is  men¬ 
tioned  even  in  the  first  centuries  after  Christ.  Sever¬ 
al  Roman  writers  make  mention  of  it  and  describe  it 
as  the  capital  seat  of  the  Slavonic  regents,  where  a 
pompous  church  erected  to  the  honor  of  the  most 
powerful  God,  called  Svantovft,  may  be  found.  Ger¬ 
man  and  Roman  historians  of  the  IV.  century  write 
about  Nitra,  that  it  is  a  powerful  fortress  and  exten¬ 
sive  town  where  Frigibunda  sent  its  missionaries  to 

preach  the  gospel  to  the  heathen  Slavonians.  In  the 
annals  of  German  chroniclers  and  the  canonical  his¬ 
tory,  we  find  that  the  town  Nitra  had  an  episcopate 
as  early  as  the  fourth  century. 


12 


We  deem  it  necessary  to  consider  briefly  the 
Christianization  of  the  Slavonians  because  their 
history  therefrom  is  closely  connected  with  it.  The 
adoption  of  Christianity  has  always  caused  a  new 
epoch  in  the  life  of  a  nation  and  brought  important 
changes.  In  the  history  of  nearly  every  nation  we 
may  read  of  bloody  combats  and  persecutions  which 
they  conducted  against  the  preachers  of  the  gospel. 
We  know  how  the  Romans  crucified  the  apostles 
and  their  pupils,  how  they  were  stoned  by  the  Greeks 
and  beheaded  by  the  Germans.  But  history  does  not 
mention  any  martyrs  who  lost  their  lives  for 
preaching  the  gospel  to  the  Slavonians.  In  general 
they  adopted  it  without  resistance  and,  as  some 
historians  assert,  they  received  the  gospel  from  the 
mouths  of  the  Apostles  themselves.  Some  say  that 
St.  Paul  himself  preached  the  word  of  God  to  our 
ancestors,  which  fact  is  credible,  taking  the  ethnogra¬ 
phy  of  that  time  into  consideration.  The  Slavonians 
came  not  only  very  often  into  contact  with  the 
Grecians,  carried  on  trade  with  them,  and  as  Herodot 
says,  were  frequently  seen  in  Greek  towns  and 
villages ;  but  they  inhabited  the  lands  of  the  present 
Dalmatia,  where  St.  Paul,  as  we  know  from  the 

Acts  of  the  Apostles,  operated  personally,  and, 
therefore,  easily  may  have  found  the  Slavonians. 
That  the  Slavonians  were  very  early  aquainted  with 
the  gospel  is  proven  by  the  foundation  of  an  episco¬ 
pate  there  in  the  IV.  century,  and  that  the  celebrated 
translator  of  the  latin  Bible  known  as  Vulgata,  St. 


—  13  — 

Hieronym,  was  born  in  the  Slavonic  country  at 
Strydonium,  and  as  Rufus  writes,  of  Slavonic  parents. 

Christianity  was  taught  early  to  our  ancestors 
but  it  did  not  take  root.  Just  when  it  started  to 
spread  and  become  a  part  of  the  life  of  the  people 
the  migration  of  nations  commenced  and  Hungary 
in  Europe  was  what  the  United  States  have  been, 
and  are  at  present,  the  Eldorado  of  nations.  All 
migrating  nations  travelled  through  Hungary  and 
disturbed  the  peacable  life  of  our  ancestors,  incited 
a  warlike  feeling  and  compelled  them  to  go  to  the 
battlefield  in  order  to  protect  their  country,  their 
liberty,  families  and  children  from  the  attacks  of 
barbarous  nations.  For  a  long  time  they  had  to  resist 
the  Gepids,  the  Avars  and  finally  the  Huns,  which 
wild  race  came  from  Asia  and  inundated  Europe, 
burning  and  devastating  everything.  The  Huns 
pitched  their  camp  first  in  Hungary  and  squeezed 
the  Slavonians  out  of  the  most  fertile  land  between 
the  Danube  and  Tisa.  From  there  they  conducted 
their  destructive  expedition  to  all  European  countries, 
especially  to  eastern  Byzantine  and  the  western 
Roman  empires.  Their  commander  Attila,  known 
as  “Scourge  of  God”,  after  murdering  his  brother 
Buda,  invaded  the  western  countries,  about  the 
time  Rome  had  sent  a  powerful  military  force, 
under  the  leadership  of  Aetius,  againt  the  barbar 
Huns.  The  enemies  met  on  the  Chalon’s  fields  and 
the  battle  lasted  uninteruptedly  for  three  days,  after 
which  both  withdrew  with  terribly  broken  forces.  The 
battlefield  was  covered  by  500,000  mangled  human 


L 


14  — 


bodies.  Attila  afterwards  returned  with  the  remaining 
warriors  to  Hangary  and,  not  long  afterwards, 
partaking  of  a  rich  supper  and  drinking  heavily  died 
suddenly  of  hemorrhage  of  the  nose.  After  his  death 
the  Slavonic  population,  which  daring  his  despotism 
retreated  to  the  hilly  parts  of  the  country  collected 
its  forces,  attacked  the  remaining  Huns,  and  drove 
them  from  the  country.  They  went  back  to  Asia  but 
afterwards  returned  again  under  the  name  of 
Magyars.  The  Magyars  or  the  now  reigning  nation 
in  Hungary  are  the  descendants  of  the  Hans,  and 
it  is  clearly  visible  the  Slavonians  have  nothing  in 
common  with  that  nationality. 

After  the  expulsion  of  the  Huns  from  Europe 
and  after  two  centuries  a  new  enemy,  a  closely 
related  nation  of  the  Huns,  the  Avars,  invaded 
Hungary;  they,  however  did  not  remain  long, 
because  Charles  the  Great,  with  the  assistance  of 
Germans  and  Slavonians,  soon  ended  their  devastation 
by  driving  them  back  to  Asia. 

After  the  defeat  of  the  Huns  a  new  and  better  era 
began  for  the  Slavonians.  They  regained  their  lands 
and  their  power  over  the  whole  country,  and  under 
the  wise  ruling  of  their  own  kings,  such  as  Priblina, 
Kocel  and  others,  increased  their  influence  and 
standing  among  nations. 

In  the  second  part  of  the  VIII.  century  Rastislav 
became  the  ruler  of  the  country,  and  under  his 
managment  the  Slavonic  kingdom  rose  to  an  exalted 
position.  It  was  he  who  asked  the  Byzantine  court 
for  missionaries  to  again  preach  Christianity  to  his 


\ 


—  15  — 

subjects,  and  on  his  summons  emperor  Constantin 
sent  St.  Cy rill  and  Method.  Through  the  efforts  of 
these  two  Christianity  was  adopted  in  the  whole 
country  and  took  root  forever.  St.  Cyrill  translated  the 
Holy  Scripture  into  the  language  of  the  people, 
and  the  divine  services  which  for  many  centuries 
were  conducted  in  the  Slavonic  language  in  the 
churches  of  our  ancestors,  were  written  by  him. 

After  Rastislav’s  death  Svatopluk  the  most 
celebrated  of  the  Slavonian  kings  followed  on  the 
throne.  Under  liis  regime  the  great  Moravian  empire 
reached  the  summit  of  its  glory.  He  ruled  for  24 
years  and  glorified  the  Slavonian  name.  He  gained 
several  victories  over  the  Germans  and  cleared  the 
country  of  the  German  influx.  The  welfare  of  the 
inhabitants,  and  science  and  art  increased  in  the 
empire  under  his  ruling.  On  his  deathbed  he  left 
the  country  and  the  throne  to  his  three  sons,  with 
the  condition,  that  the  two  younger  sons  should 
obey  the  oldest.  Soon  after  the  death  of  Svatopluk 
a  quarrel  ensued  among  his  sons  with  a  very  unhappy 
result  to  the  whole  country.  Before  progressing  it  is 
necessary  to  mention  the  invasion  of  the  descendants 
of  the  Huns,  the  Magyars,  or  the  now  ruling  national¬ 
ity  in  Hungary. 

The  last  of  the  migrating  nations  were  the 
Magyars.  They  originate  from  the  Mongolian  and 
Tartaric  race  and  as  mentioned  are  closely  related  to 
the  feared  Huns.  Leaving  their  mother  country, 
they  came  west  and  settled  between  the  rivers  of 
Dnieper  and  Moldava.  From  here  they  were  driven 


—  16 


out  by  the  BesenalPs  and  not  knowing  what  direction 
to  turn,  they  petitioned  the  Slavonic  king  to  allow 
them  to  pasture  their  herds  on  the  rich  lands  of 
Hungary.  Svatopluk,  the  kindhearted,  sent  their 
commander,  Arpad,  lime  and  water  as  an  answer 
that  he  had  plenty  of  land  and  water  and  would 
willingly  allow  him  and  his  people  to  settle  down 
on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  river  Tisa.  Here  they 
remained  and  pastured  their  cattle  for  many  years. 

After  the  death  of  Svatopluk,  the  Germans  who 
jealously  watched  the  growing  power  of  the  Slavo¬ 
nians  found  a  good  opportunity  to  destroy  it  by  at¬ 
tacking  his  quarelling  and  discordant  sons.  They 
allied  with  the  ungrateful  Magyars  and  with  com¬ 
bined  forces  attacked  the  unprepared  nation  and 
their  king.  It  came  to  a  fierce  battle  near  the  present 
town  of  Pressburg,  in  the  year  907,  where  the  Sla¬ 
vonians  were  defeated.  This  year  will  always  be  a 
memorable  one  in  the  history  of  the  Slavonians. 
The  defeat  brought  peril  to  the  Slavonic  kingdom  and 
caused  a  wound,  which  up  to  the  present  time  has 
never  been  healed.  This  ended  the  great  Moravian 
empire  and  the  glory  of  the  Slavonians. 

After  the  unfortunate  battle  at  Pressburg,  the 
Slavonic  throne  was  wavering.  The  Magyars  assisted 
by  the  Germans  daily  occupied  more  land  and  gain¬ 
ed  power  over  the  country.  Finally  when  St.  Ste¬ 
phen  became  king,  ruling  from  1000 — 1038,  the  Sla¬ 
vonians  deliberately  declared  loyalty  to  the  Hunga¬ 
rian  crown,  under  the  conditions,  that  the  Slavonic 
land,  or  the  noithern  part  of  Hungary  inhabited  by 


—  17  — 


Slavonians,  remain  an  independent  dukedom,  ruled 
by  a  duke  from  a  Slavonic  royal  family.  The  first 
such  was  St.  Emerich,  the  son  of  St.  Stephen. 
From  this  time  on  the  Slavonic  country  constituted 
a  part  of  the  kingdom  belonging  to  the  Hungarian 
crown  as  an  independent  dukedom  and  many  Sla¬ 
vonic  dukes  reigned  on  the  Hungarian  throne, 
among  them  Gesa  and  St.  Ladislav,  both  of  whom 
occupy  a  prominent  place  in  its  history. 

In  1301  the  royal  family  of  Arpad  was  extin- 
quished  with  Andrew  the  III- d.  After  his  death  the 
throne  rightfully  ought  to  have  fallen  to  the  female 
branch  of  the  royal  family,  but  it  did  not  do  so. 
The  Homan  pope,  of  whom  St.  Stephen  received  the 
crown,  retained  Hungary  as  their  own  and  tried  to 
force  the  duke  of  Neapel,  Charles  Robert,  upon  the 
throne.  For  this  purpose  a  meeting  of  Hungarian 
magnates  was  called  by  the  pope,  and  Cardinal 
Gentilius  sent  so  that  through  his  intervention,  the 
election  of  Charles  Robert  might  be  insured. 

Against  Charles  Robert,  rose  in  arms  the  mighty 
oligarch,  Matheus  Trenciansky,  called  the  “Lord  of 
the  V ah  &  Tatra”,  who  demanded  that  Charles  ratify 
the  treaty  made  between  St.  Stephen  I.,  king  of 
Hungary,  and  the  Slavonic  nation  in  order  to  insure 
the  rights  of  the  Slavonic  dukedom.  Charles  Robert 
refused  to  comply  with  his  demands.  Matheus  then 
called  to  arms  his  true  Slavonians  and  a  battle  took 
place.  The  two  enemies  met  at  Rozhanovce,  (Roz- 
gony)  a  little  village  near  the  river  of  Torisa.  Vic¬ 
tory  seemed  inclined  towards  the  Slavonians,  when 


at  the  determinative  moment,  the  treacherous  hand 
of  a  betrayer  stabbed  Matheus  with  a  sharp  knife, 
killing  him  almost  instantly.  Disorder  arose  in  the 
ranks  of  the  Slavonians  and  the  battle  ended  with 
their  defeat. 

After  this  unhappy  battle  the  Slavonic  duke¬ 
dom  was  abolished.  All  rights  of  the  Slavonians 
were  taken  away  and  the  Slavonic  dukedom  was 
annexed  to  the  Hungarian  kingdom. 

From  this  time  on  the  territory  occupied  by  the 
Slavonians  does  not  appear  as  an  independent  coun¬ 
try.  Its  history  is  comprised  in  the  history  of 
Hungary.  In  this  history,  however,  Ave  meet  gross 
injustice  at  the  hands  of  usual  writers,  since  the 
Slavonians  and  other  nationalities  in  Hungary  are 
almost  ignored.  The  history  of  Hungary  deals  only 
with  the  Hungarian  nation  proper,  or  the  history  of 
the  Magyars,  the  ruling  nation. 

The  Slavonians  were  not  disheartened  after  the 
unfortunate  battle  near  Rozhanovce,  but  maintained 
the  high  standing  which  they  gained  by  industry 
and  perseverance,  and  were  still  a  separate  people, 
though  we  do  not  find  them  again  a  reigning  nation. 
Among  all  nationalities  they  gave  the  most  and 
best  soldiers  for  the  defense  of  the  country.  The 
■world  famous  black  regiment  of  the  Hungarian  king, 
Mathias  Corvin,  Avas  mainly  constituted  by  Slavo¬ 
nians.  Our  ancestors  fought  in  the  first  ranks  for 
over  300  years  against  the  Turks,  Avhen  that  nation 
threatened  to  destroy  the  continent.  Thousands  of 
Slavonian  youths  shed  their  blood,  and  their  lifeless 


—  19  — 


bodies  were  left  upon  the  field  in  defense  of  the 
liberty  of  Hangary.  Millions  had  been  paid  by  them 
for  military  purposes.  The  sons  of  Slavonic  parents 
excelled  in  science  and  art,  and  magnates  of  Slavonic 
origin  occupied  the  foremost  positions  in  the  country. 

But  this  was  in  the  time  when  tbe  nobility  was 
held  as  almost  superhuman  and  the  poor  peasant 
was  nothing  but  a  miserable  slave.  Such  a  condi¬ 
tion  in  these  feudal  times  prevailed  not  only  in  Hun¬ 
gary  but  on  the  whole  continent.  The  feudal  tenants 
were  not  even  allowed  to  move  from  one  place  to 
another  without  the  permission  of  their  masters. 
They  were  considered  property  in  the  same  sense  as 
cattle  and  were  sold  in  the  same  manner. 

After  the  defeat  of  the  Slavonians  near  Roz- 
hanovce,  their  nobility,  fearing  the  confiscation  of 
their  lands,  flattered  the  Italian  king  and  betrayed 
their  own  blood,  their  own  native  brothers.  The 
dissatisfaction  between  the  nobility  and  peasantry 
increased  daily  so  that  in  the  XVI,  XVII  &  XVIII 
century  we  had  no  nobility  which  would  have 
acknowledged  their  nationality,  but  when  a  favo¬ 
rable  wind  blew,  with  it  they  turned  and  if  their 
interests  demanded  it  they  even  became  Latins, 
Teutons  or  anything  else.  The  common  peasant  left 
to  himself  was  neglected,  nothing  was  asked  of  him 
but  to  labor  for  his  holdings  and  pay  his  disme  on 
time.  Under  those  circumstances  we  may  easily 
understand  why  it  was  that  the  peasantry  fell  deep 
into  the  mire  of  ignorance  and  poverty  and  slept  a 
mental  sleep  until  the  end  of  the  last  century. 


20  — 


THE  PERIOD  OF  AWAKENING. 

When  at  the  end  of  the  last  and  the  begining 
of  this  century  the  motto  of  great  men:  ’’Liberty, 
Equality  and  Fraternity"  brought  into  life  the  French 
Revolution  and  caused  Europe  to  tremble;  when  Na¬ 
poleon  striving  for  power  and  glory  became  the  cham¬ 
pion  of  the  people;  when  the  peoples  of  Europe  be¬ 
gan  to  awaken,  each  claiming  its  own;  so  when  the 
Magyars  began  to  arrogate  unlimited  power  over 
Hungary  there  appeared  also  men  in  our  nation  who 
laid  stress  on  nationality,  language  and 
rights,  roused  the  long  dormant  people  and  de¬ 
manded  their  rights  as  the  people  of  other  nations 
did.  After  the  abolition  of  the  dead  Latin  tongue,  the 
zeal  for  the  mother  language  developed  itself  in  our 
country  as  well  as  on  the  whole  continent.  It  was 
cultivated,  spoken  and  written.  Jan  Holly  the 
greatest  Slavonic  epic  poet,  sang  of  the  glory  of  our 
ancestors  and  of  the  past  of  our  nation.  In  Horace- 
like  odes,  he  has  not  ceased  to  teach  the  love  for 
our  language  and  the  Slavonian  race.  J  a  n  K  o  1 1  ar, 
who  with  his  lyric  songs  has  won  a  world  wide  re¬ 
putation,  was  untiring  in  his  effort  to  show  the  im¬ 
portance  of  the  cultivation  of  reciprocity  between  all 
the  Slavish  branches.  Jan.Safarik,  the  far  famed 
historian  and  phylologist,  labored  in  the  same 
direction  as  the  two  mentioned  above.  Literary  clubs 


21  — 


were  founded,  books  published  in  rapid  succession, 
and  on  all  sides  earnest  work  began  to  rouse  the  na¬ 
tion  to  a  realization  of  its  condition  and  to  awaken 
its  sleeping  people. 

In  the  mean  time  the  Magyars  boldly  progressed 
with  the  oppression  of  all  non- Magyar  nationalities, 
prevented  their  developement  wherever  they  could, 
and  strove  to  make  all  feel  that  they  were  the  Lords 
of  Hungary. 

Finally  the  year  1848  arrived.  The  revolution 
broke  out  in  France,  then  in  Vienna  and  soon 
followed  in  Hungary.  Kossuth,  known  to  many 
Americans,  called  all  Hungarians  to  bear  against 
the  Austrian  Germans,  dethroned  the  family  of 
Habsburg  and  proclaimed  himself  governor  of  Hun¬ 
gary.  The  non  -  Magyar  citizens  of  Hungary,  finding 
that  their  rights  were  not,  and  likely  would  not  be, 
respected  took  to  arms  and  rose  against  the  Magyars. 
Among  them  were  also  the  Slavonians.  Under  the 
leadership  of  Dr.  Joseph  Hurban,  a  protestant  clergy¬ 
man,  Ludv.  Stur,  Martin  Hodza,  Jan  Francisci,  baron 
Levartovsky,  Janecko  and  others  they  arranged  three 
revolutionary  expeditions  and  gained  several  victories 
over  the  Magyars,  when  the  betrayer’s  loathsome 
work  again  caused  their  defeat.  The  Vienna  go¬ 
vernment  fearing  the  victories  of  the  Slavonian’s 

worked  secretly  against  them,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  they  fought  for  their  king  and  their  rights.  In 
the  determinative  moment  when  they  expected  help 
from  the  Austrians  the  latter  turned  against  them. 


22 


The  insurrection  of  the  Magyars  was  finally  put 
down  by  the  Russian.  General  Commander  Gorgey 
surrendered  with  22  thousand  men  to  the  Russians. 
Kossuth  taking  the  state  treasury  became  a  fugitive 
and  tried  to  raise  funds  in  foreign  countries  against 
the  Yienese  government,  but  all  in  vain. 

After  this  the  so-called  Bach  period  began, 
during  which  there  sprang  up  a  new  life  among  the 
Slavonic  inhabitants  of  Hungary.  ,To  cultivate,  to 
enlighten  the  neglected  masses  was  the  wish  and 
desire  of  all. 

In  the  year  1861  on  June  6-th  a  general  meeting 
of  Slavonians  was  called  at  Turciansky  Sv.  Martin, 
the  center  of  the  Slavonic  national  life,  where  the 
“Memorandum”  was  issued  containing  the  desires  of 
the  Slavonic  nation,  and  was  submitted  to  the  king  and 
the  parliam  ent  of  Hungary.  In  the  same  year  a  Slavonic 
literary  institution  “Matica  Slovenska”  was  founded 
and  soon  afterwards  two  protestant  and  catholic 
Slavonic  high  schools  “gymnasiums”  were  erected 
and  it  was  the  general  effort  on  all  sides  to  elevate 
the  Slavonic  population  morally  as  well  as  materially. 

In  1866.  the  government  of  Vienna  in  order  to 
secure  the  aid  of  the  Magyars  against  the  Prussians 
became  reconciled  with  them.  Emperor  Francis  Jo¬ 
seph  I.  was  crowned  king  of  Hungary  the  following 
year  and  the  Magyars  were  given  full  sway.  From  this 
time  on  the  laws  constructed  in  1848.  and  1866,  giv¬ 
ing  equal  rights  to  all  citizens  and  nations  of  Hun¬ 
gary,  were  more  and  more  disregarded  and  the  go- 


23  — 


vernment  daily  oppressed  and  persecuted  the  non- 
Magyar  nations  in  their  own  native  ancestral  country. 
The  Slavonians  were  on  Febr.  5.  1875.  deprived  first  of 
their  literary  institution:  ”Matica“.  With  it,  the 
government  confiscated  250.000  fl.  worth  of  pro¬ 
perty,  mostly  donated  by  poor  Slavonic  people,  and 
turned  the  building  into  a  military  barrack,  holding 
that  a  Slavonic  literary  institution  had  no  right  to  exist 
on  the  grounds  of  Hungary.  Then  the  spirit  of  hatred 
which  the  Magyars  manifested  to  the  Slavonians 
plainly  showed  itself.  Too  much  couldn’t  be  done 
by  the  former  people  against  the  latter.  The  atten¬ 
tion  of  the  government  was  turned  to  the  Slavonic 
high  schools.  One  after  the  other  they  were  locked 
up  and  the  Slavonic  students  dismissed. 

The  government  did  not  stop  here  but  made 
and  still  is  making  the  greatest  effort  to  do  away 
with  the  Slavonic  language  in  all  the  schools.  The 
northern  part  of  Hungary  is  inhabited  by  pure  Sla¬ 
vonic  inhabitants  amounting  to  3  millions  and  the 
government  in  its  effort  progressed  so  far  that  there 
is  not  a  single  Slavonic  school  in  Hungary,  where 
the  Slavonic  youth  can  obtain  his  education  in  his 
mother  language.  From  the  village  school  up,  the 

Magyar  language  is  taught  to  children.  A  six  or 
seven  year  old  child  not  knowing  a  word  of  the 
Magyar  language,  coming  to  school  does  not  hear 
anything  else  but  Magyarish.  We  leave  it  to  the 
pedagouges  to  decide  whether  a  child  having  to 
wrestle  with  a  strange  language  can  during  the 


compulsory  six  years  of  schooling  aquire  the  neces¬ 
sary  knowledge  for  further  self  cultivation  ? 

To  Magy arize,  is  the  greatest  aim  of  the 
teacher  in  the  school  and  clergyman  in  the  pulpit. 
The  catholic  bishops  very  often  send  a  pure  Slavonic 
congregation  a  pastor  who  is  not  able  to  construct  a 
correct  sentence  in  the  language  of  his  people. 
People  striving  for  an  office  betray  their  nationality, 
and  buy  a  real  Magyarish  name  for  50  c.  and  are 
known  by  that  thereafter,  rather  than  by  their 
honest  Slavonic  name.  The  names  of  Slavonic 
villages,  towns,  rivers,  valleys,  mountains  are 
changed  to  Magyar  names.  To  speak  Slavonic  on  the 
street  or  public  places  is  considered  as  a  disgrace. 
An  official  who  dares  to  acknowledge  that  he  is  a 
true  Slavonian  is  deprived  of  his  office.  A  student 
of  theology  who  would  dare  to  take  a  Slavonic 
prayerbook  into  his  hands  is  expelled  from  the 
institution  and  any  student  not  denying  his  nation¬ 
ality  has  no  room  in  the  high  schools  of  the 
country. 

Some  may  be  tempted  to  say  this  is  an  exagger¬ 
ation.  No  tired  reader,  we  could  fill  volumes  and 
volumes  if  we  would  relate  all  wrongs  and  mention 
all  instances  proving  these  facts.  To  convince  you 
of  the  barbaric  treatment  to  which  the  Slavonians 
are  subjected  by  their  cruel  rulers,  one  instance  is 
sufficient,  and  it  alone  we  feel  is  enough  to  cause 
the  blood  to  boil  in  the  veins  of  any  humane  person. 

Seeing  the  bravery  with  which  the  Slavonians 
were  holding  out  against  their  attempts  to  destroy 


—  25 


them  and  beholding  at  the  same  time  a  failing  on 
the  part  of  their  own  people,  400  children  were  torn 
from  the  bosoms  of  their  Slavonian  mothers  by  the 
Hungarian  armed  police  and  they  were  distributed 
among  the  Magyar  families  to  freshen  the  blood  of 
the  declining  nation.  The  protests  of  parents,  the 
ravings  of  mothers  were  all  in  vain  against  the 
bayonets  of  the  gendarms.  The  children  were  hid  in 
cellars  and  other  hiding  places  but  were  brought 
forth  labeled  and  shipped  to  strange  people.  What 
do  you,  happy  mothers  of  this  free  country,  say  to 
this  unheard  of  barbarism  in  this  enlightened  XIX. 
centurv?  Such  action  was  and  ought  to  be  condem- 
ned  by  the  whole  world.  All  nations  are  interested 
in  Lavigiers  movement  to  abolish  slavery  in  Africa; 
is  it  not  first  our  duty  to  surpress  it  in  Europe?  The 
whole  world  gave  a  helping  hand  to  free  the  Balcan 
population  of  the  turkish  tyranism,  but  the  cries 
of  the  oppressed  and  tormented  Slavonians  are  lost 
in  the  deserts  and  remain  unheard  and  unknown. 
If  we  only  could  acquaint  each  nation  of  all  the 
wrongs  committed  in  the  heart  of  the  civilized  world 
how  gladly  we  would  do  it  and  at  the  same  time 
perform  a  duty  to  our  nation  as  well  as  our  God. 

We  have,  kind  reader,  attempted  to  acquaint 
you  briefly  with  the  condition  of  our  nation  from 
the  earliest  period  until  to  day.  Bead  it  carefully  and 
judge.  Will  you  disapprove  of  some  of  our  errors 
caused  by  ignorance.  Knowing  this,  do  you  despise 
us  because  we  do  not  stand  so  highly  civilized  as 
you  do?  Bern  ember  that  you  had  all  the  opportuni- 


—  26  — 

ties  to  learn  all  that  is  necessary  in  life  from  your 
childhood  np,  while  we  had,  until  we  reached  this 
great  land,  no  opportunity  whatsoever  and  were  in 
a  great  distress,  cut  off  from  all  the  refining  influen¬ 
ces  of  modern  thought  and  culture.  Remember 
that  the  people  of  our  nation  are  not  themselves 
the  cause  of  their  neglected  condition  but  that  it  is 
attributable  to  the  harshness  of  others. 

Leaving  our  country  we  came  to  this  free  and 
glorious  republic.  We  are  the  youngest  of  the  immi¬ 
grating  nations.  Scarcely  12  years  have  elapsed  since 
the  bulk  of  our  people  left  their  materially  ruined 
and  unfortunate  homes  and  come  to  the  Union  in 
search  of  betterment  of  themselves  and  their  fami¬ 
lies.  Our  number  in  this  country  reaches  nearly 
100.000  souls  and  we  do  not  think  ve  have  failed  in 
grasping  the  opportunities  offered  for  self  improve¬ 
ment  and  we  feel  encouraged  in  the  thought  that  our 
advancement  will  bear  a  favorable  comparison  with 
the  immigrants  and  settlers  whose  stay  with  you  has 
been  of  an  equally  short  duration.  We  have  nume¬ 
rous  churches,  such  as  catholic,  greek  catholic  and 
protestant  and  our  own  schools.  We  have  hundreds 
of  beneficial  and  benevolent  societies  and  an  orga¬ 
nization.  ’’The  National  Slavonic  Society  “  founded 
but  two  years  ago  and  now  rejoicing  in  3000  mem¬ 
bers.  The  aim  of  this  Society  is  the  elevation  of  the 
condition  of  all  Slavonians  through  urging  our  peo¬ 
ple  towards  prosperity  and  the  blessing  of  American 
citizenship.  Its  constitution  prescribes  that  each  mem¬ 
ber  become  a  citizen  within  6  years  or  forfeit  his 


1 


—  27  — 

membership.  We  have  political  clubs,  literary  and 
singing  Societies  and  four  Slavonic  newspapers.  In 
each  Slavonic  colony  we  find  Slavonic  businessmen 
respected  not  only  by  their  nationality  but  also  by 
all  citizens. 

Our  nation  is  not  idling  about  in  this  great 
country  of  freedom  but  making  every  effort  to  keep 
up  with  the  standard  off  all  others  and  is  trying  to 
remedy  any  faults,  due  to  our  neglect  in  the  land  of 
our  birth.  Our  societies  have  amission  of  culture  and 
education  for  our  people  in  the  duties  and  require¬ 
ments  of  a  true  American  Citizenship.  Our  national¬ 
ity  is  not  made  up  of  an  indolent  class  of  immigrants 
but  it  is  composed  of  a  willing  and  industrions  peo¬ 
ple,  whose  desire  is  to  add  to  the  glory  of  the  great 
nation  which  has,  with  outstreched  arms,  welcomed 
us  to  its  bosom  and  bid  us  become  brothers.  We  have 
no  fatherland  to  which  we  hope  some  day  to  flee 
when  our  pockets  shall  have  been  filled  with  Ame¬ 
rican  money.  Our  only  hope  and  future  lies  in  our 
citizenship  in  this  the  country  of  our  adoption,  to 
which  we  pledge  our  faith  and  life  blood  if  it  be 
required. 


“Amerikfinsko  Slovenske  Noviny” 

(SLAVONIC  WEEKLY  NEWSPAPER.) 


The  only  oldest  and  largest  Slavonic  newspaper 
in  Western  Pennsylvania  and  the  West.  It  is  the 
Official  Organ  of  the  National  Slavonic  Society  and 
all  the  prominent  Slavonic  beneficial  Societies  in  the 
United  States.  It  has  the  largest  circulation  among 
the  Slavonians  (called  Hungarians)  in  this  country 
and  as  an  advertising  medium  it  is  unexcelled. 

JOHH  SLOYENSKY  &  CO., 

Publishers  c b  Proprietors , 

604  GRANT  STREET, 

PITTSBURG-,  PA. 


I  M  TP  O  R  T  EBS 

—  Of  — 

Slavish  &  Hungarian  Religious  Rooks  &  Literary  Works 

of  all  kinds. 


